What's the status of adult neurogenesis in humans? Wikipedia says that it's controversial whether or not it exists [1]. If we don't know that happens in humans, what can we make of an a study about exercise-mediated neurogenesis in rats?
Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
21–30 of 83 posts
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#22Rodent studies aren't really great for measuring this because it's nearly impossible to control for the rodents' enjoyment of each exercise. We know that rodents enjoy running wheels because they use them voluntarily. It's not surprising that the exercise they enjoy is the one that seems to produce the most benefits. For humans: Doing any exercise is better than doing no exercise. Doing frequent exercise is better th…
Yes, whether results for rodents on a seven week exercise program actually transfer to humans remains to be seen. But I would like to point out that besides subjective preference and enjoyment, it is quite clear to me that humans are pretty crap compared to everything physical, except for long-distance running. We are not the fastest. Not the strongest. Not the best swimmers or climbers. But as an animal, and on a po…
It is the lack of fur allowing sweat cooling that prevents heat stroke that made us the apex predators; we jogged all mega fauna we met to extinction.
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#23"Solvitur ambulando" - it is solved by walking[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvitur_ambulando
"Solvitur lavando" Shower thoughts...
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#24Rodent studies aren't really great for measuring this because it's nearly impossible to control for the rodents' enjoyment of each exercise. We know that rodents enjoy running wheels because they use them voluntarily. It's not surprising that the exercise they enjoy is the one that seems to produce the most benefits. For humans: Doing any exercise is better than doing no exercise. Doing frequent exercise is better th…
Yes, whether results for rodents on a seven week exercise program actually transfer to humans remains to be seen. But I would like to point out that besides subjective preference and enjoyment, it is quite clear to me that humans are pretty crap compared to everything physical, except for long-distance running. We are not the fastest. Not the strongest. Not the best swimmers or climbers. But as an animal, and on a po…
We know that fundamentally it's our endurance that gives us a physical edge, but I am curious...
> We are not the fastest. Not the strongest. Not the best swimmers or climbers.
Are humans the best in aggregate at all of these? Sure, there is always going to be an animal that is faster in one aspect, but are there other animals that are better than humans at all of them?
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find HIIT doesn’t do it for me. Can’t push myself hard enough in such short bursts because I have ridiculous cardio conditioning* from running. Boxing is great because it’s hiit but with technique and tactics and strategy. * ridiculous conditioning in that I can keep average heart rate at 155bpm for 2 hours no problem. Most hiit isn’t long enough to get me above 110
What do you normally do to get to a 155 bpm heart rate? Not an expert but when I've done HIIT workouts, they've always started with a mild warm up to elevate the heart rate. Maybe you'd benefit from something more strenuous to start.
Continuous fartlek style running will get you to 155+ bpm. Back off the pace to actively recover to 120 bpm, then go after it again.
Problem is, you need to be fit to do this right, reducing the risk of injury. Always preferred fartlek to repeat intervals on the track. Both have their place however.
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#26Rodent studies aren't really great for measuring this because it's nearly impossible to control for the rodents' enjoyment of each exercise. We know that rodents enjoy running wheels because they use them voluntarily. It's not surprising that the exercise they enjoy is the one that seems to produce the most benefits. For humans: Doing any exercise is better than doing no exercise. Doing frequent exercise is better th…
Running and walking seems to be particularly good for thinking. Could be a link to our evolution, or the fact that it’s a simple exercise you don’t have to focus on and are free to think. Sports are great for getting in the zone but usually too mentally taxing for background thinking. Boxing, for example, is amazing relaxation but you really can’t think about anything else during a round. Sometimes high intensity sto…
Someone said that doing highly repetitive exercises like running can cause increase in the stress hormone cortisol and hence we must do that in limit. Is that true?
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#27Anecdotally, high intensity exercise like deadlifts or full sprints doesn't leave much room for thinking. But on a half marathon over a few hours, with nothing but the sound of the wind and your feet on the ground, after the first 15 minutes you've already thought through your plans for today, then after the first hour you've already thought back to that mistake you made last week, then it's uncharted territory. So t…
They don't leave much oxygen for thinking, haha
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find HIIT doesn’t do it for me. Can’t push myself hard enough in such short bursts because I have ridiculous cardio conditioning* from running. Boxing is great because it’s hiit but with technique and tactics and strategy. * ridiculous conditioning in that I can keep average heart rate at 155bpm for 2 hours no problem. Most hiit isn’t long enough to get me above 110
HIIT means all-out sprints with short rests in between, but that's (unfortunately) not how it's presented in social media sometimes. No matter your shape, running all-out sprints in that particular way will get you to the max heart rate. It's just there are too many people misusing the word now.
You won't get to max HR from a 40 meter dash.
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find HIIT doesn’t do it for me. Can’t push myself hard enough in such short bursts because I have ridiculous cardio conditioning* from running. Boxing is great because it’s hiit but with technique and tactics and strategy. * ridiculous conditioning in that I can keep average heart rate at 155bpm for 2 hours no problem. Most hiit isn’t long enough to get me above 110
I have a lengthy background in hiit (specifically CrossFit). And I say this in the most polite way possible. You're doing HIIT wrong if you cannot elevate your heart rate beyond 110 bpm. Whatever you're doing, there's a huge gap in the training programming/protocol. Everyone suffers in CrossFit. Everyone.
Can confirm. It’s pretty easy to elevate heart rate while doing HIIT. Even if you do it for 10 years.
Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Running and walking seems to be particularly good for thinking. Could be a link to our evolution, or the fact that it’s a simple exercise you don’t have to focus on and are free to think. Sports are great for getting in the zone but usually too mentally taxing for background thinking. Boxing, for example, is amazing relaxation but you really can’t think about anything else during a round. Sometimes high intensity sto…
As a cyclist, I noticed an interesting difference between road cycling and mountain biking. Road cycling is zen meditation. Great for coming up with solutions. Meanwhile MTB is entirely different. No chance to think. But great to remove built up stress. In my experience, both is necessary in different life situations. And sometimes both. First reduce stress, then evaluate the source and remove it. Otherwise it’s perm…
100% agree - never realized this when I got into the sports. Cycling lets me go deep into thought and break things apart. Mountain biking is all action so you can actually tune out.